Cover charge

By: Joe Blundo

The Columbus Dispatch - July 19, 2013 11:50 AM

I get the
uproar over
Rolling Stone putting the Boston Marathon bombing suspect on its cover. It was a
horrible crime and feelings run raw.

Some say the magazine is glamorizing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by running an appealing photo of him. (It
was one he snapped of himself sometime in the past. Needless to say, he's not posing for any
magazine covers these days.)

To my mind, the photo emphasizes the gulf between his baby-faced appearance and the heinous acts
he's accused of committing. I look at it and wonder: How? Why? What went wrong?

Also, I would point out that the same cover calls him a "monster."

It's too bad some stores are boycotting the magazine because
its story
on Tsarnaev is illuminating. Somehow a kid described by teachers, coaches and friends as smart,
unaggressive and respectful apparently became an extremist. Understanding how that could have
happened -- and the story presents some ideas -- seems like a worthwhile exercise.

The uproar over the cover prompted several websites to review the history of cover
controversies. Here's
one.

As you can see, this sort of protest has a long history.

I'm not denying that magazine sales are not a consideration when
Rolling Stone, or any other publication, decides what to put on its cover. But a photo of
the pre-bombing Tsarnaev illustrating a story about the pre-bombing Tsarnev doesn't seem out of
bounds when I step back and think about it.

Of course, stepping back is difficult if you or your city has been personally affected by the
acts he's accused of commiting. So, yes, I get it the outrage. (A police photographer was so
outraged, he released decidedly
less
flattering photos of the suspect.)

All that aside, I still think
Rolling Stone produced a story that's worth reading.